Starter device for internal-combustion engines



Aug. 22, 1944. A. CA L EN AL r 7 5 0 STARTER DEVICETOR IN ERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES;

Filed Nov. 4, 1940 7 1-121 k 33/ H E '1-// I |v s Patented Aug. 22, 1944 STARTER DEVICE FOR INTERNAL-COM- BUSTION ENGINES Albert Callsen, Stuttgart-Botnamg, and Adolf- Weiss;

Marbach-on-the-Neckar,

Germany vested in the Alien- Property Custodian Application November' l, 1940, Serial N 0. 364,272

In Germany 'october 20,1939,

Claims. (Cl; 74--6) This invention relates to starter devices for internal combustion engines, of the type in which the driving member, for example, a pinion, is connected with the driving shaft of the starter by afriction clutch having a screwable pressing member and effecting a positive driving connection only after the driving member has come into mesh with the driven member, said driving memher being engaged arbitrarily with the driven member, for instance, the toothedrim of'the flywheel of an internal combustion engine, by

hand or by a mechanically operating thrust force, such as, an electro-magnet;

In starter devices of the kind referred to, and generally in starters having a pinion to be meshed with a toothed wheel, the teeth of the pinion may happen to come into a face to face position with the teeth of the toothed wheel and it maybe locked in thisposition, it'being difficult to release the pinion'from such locked position. The most common remedy, which,,however;.is by no means satisfactory, consists in that the pinion is withdrawn by force, by switching in the starter motor, through the engaging lever, and then thrown into mesh under action of' a pressure spring which is loaded bythe engaging lever. This, however, involves violent action and thereforeis detrimental-for the pinion and the toothed wheel; the withdrawal oftentimes being.

even impossible, if the'pinion and the toothed" wheel are already damaged.

'According to another proposition; the locked pinionand'the driving shaft are relatively turned by an axial-displacement of one of the two parts of the threaded connection with respect to theother, then repeating the meshing-in operation. This, however, is only-possible with small starters for light motors, in view of the forces required for turning the driving shaft.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a device which does not show the above mentioned drawbacks, can be used-for large starter devices and is simple, inexpensive and safe in operation. 7

With this andfurther objects in View; as may become apparent. from the within disclosures,

the invention consists .not only in the structures herein pointed outandiillustrated bythe drawing, but includes further structures coming with- 4 inthe scope of what hereinafter may be claimed.

The character of the invention, however,- may be bestunderstood byreference to certain of its structural forms, as illustrated bythe-accompanying drawing in which- Eigimli is a. schematic side elevation, partly in section, of a starter "devicezhaving the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a similarview, tion, and

Fig. 3 is a similar View of a second modification. As here shown,: an important feature of our novel'starter. device consists: in that a pressure member. during the throwing-in action is positively connected with a'partjof the friction disks only, the rest of the friction disks beingpositively engaged onlyat the end of thelongitudinal motion of the driving, member, and a resilient pressure member being interpolated between the driving ,member: and. the part" which is arbitrarily showing a modificamoved by the driver. or operator.

Referring ,now to the drawing in greater detail, and firstto Fig. ,1, it will be notedthat a shellsha'ped; clutch member, 0 constituting; the driving part. of ai frictional disk clutch by of the freemotion type is seated ion a; driving shaft a of;the starter: device which, for'instance, may be driven by an electric motor;

The" drivenzpart' of: the clutch, constituted by apressurei disk d, .isifixedly keyed on, a shaftif/ by meansof: its. hub e, frictional disks g beingl interposed between the shell member cand the hub e of the pressure disk. The last frictional disk'g adjacent to the pressure disk at" isengage'd. between the 1 pressuredisk at and a shell or sleeve h which surrounds the coupling" shell 0 and is slidable' thereon, a pressure-plated bearin'g a'gainst the coupling-member c by means ofbifurcated levers andserves for throwing in the pinion. A-pressure spring t is disposed between the sleeve 1' and the shell h. I

The device operates as follows:- In order'to engage the pinion n of the starter with' the toetlied wheel of the internal combustion: engine; themiver 'or opjerator advances the sleeve" 2", by operation off the'lever -s, thereby moving forward the shaft fwith its pinion; through springt; shel1 h, friction disk 97'] and" pressure di'sk' d'. Nowyin case the: teeth of" the pinion should-strike against theend facesorthe teeth of the toothed" wheel' u', thus locking-the pinion, thefollowingprocedure takes place: The driver through the friction disk g and the pressure disk 01 causes the threaded shaft ,7 to move by a certain length through the locked pinion. Hereby, the pinion is either turned with respect to the toothed wheel, owing to the turning action of the thread or, if the pinion is very tightly locked, the shaft is turned in the thread of the pinion, this being possible owing to the fact that the pressure disk in this state is coupled with the friction disk 9' only, permitting transmission of a small torque only. As the driver withdraws the sleeve r, for another engaging attempt, the shaft f with the pinion is moved back by the spring q acting upon the pressure disk d. As soon as the pinion in this movement is released from the teeth of the toothed wheel u, it is moved along the thread m, by the spring 0, turned, and simultaneously forced into the space between two teeth. Now the driver may advance the sleeve 1' once more and engage the pinion completely. One rotation of the driving shaft a the shaft 1 is at first rotated only under action of the torque transmitted between the pressure disk at and the friction disk g, screwing itself back in the pinion, which is locked by its engagement with the toothed wheel u of the engine, until the pressure disk at forces all. of the friction disks 9 against the pressure plate i, whereby the entire friction clutch comes to a positive or torque-transmitting engagement. In this operation, the spring t is compressed if the sleeve 1' is still held in its advanced position by the lever s.

Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2, it will be noted that the pinion shaft I is provided with two threads II and I2 of similar directionof their pitch. The pinion I3 is seated on the thread ll while the thread I2 is provided for a pressure nut l4 of the frictional disk clutch. A stop face I5 for the pinion is provided on the front end of the pinion shaft, while a collar l6 for the pressure plate I! of the clutch is provided on its rear end. Moreover, a stop l8 in the form of a spring or retaining ring for a spring plate I9 is provided on said shaft, between the pinion and the pressure unit, a pressure spring being interpolated between said spring plate l9 and the pinion.

The spring 2| corresponds to the spring q and the shell 22 corresponds to the shell h of Fig. 1. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the shell 22 is advanced by a push rod 23 extending through the hollow driving shaft 24 of the starter and being operated by hand or, for instance, by an electromagnet (not shown). i

The device of Fig. 2 operates as follows: In order to throw the pinion into mesh, the shell 22 is moved, and through the pressure nut 14 and the spring ring 18 moves the pinion shaft with its pinion towards the toothed rim 25 of the engine fly wheel. In case the pinion should get locked at the front face of the toothed rim, the driver advancesthe shell 22 further,thereby turning the pressure nut l4 as in Fig.. 1. As the sleeve 22 is withdrawn for the purpose of a second attempt, the pressure nutwith the pinion shaft is moved back by the springZl and the pinion is released from its locked position. The released pinion, on the other hand,is advanced on the pinion shaft, by the spring 20 and I 5, stopping the shaft as it reaches the stop face.

Now the pressure nut is screwed on the stopped shaft, pressing the friction disk against the pressure plate I! and the collar l6, whereby the 5 clutch is fully engaged.

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of our invention which is particularly simple and useful. A driving shaft'39 is formed with a smooth portion 3| and a portion 3|a having longitudinal grooves or flutes. A pinion 33 having a threaded hub member 32 is supported on the smooth portion to be freely rotatable and slidable, while the pressure nut 34 of a frictional disk clutch is seated on the threaded hub portion 32. Arranged at both sides of the flange 35 of the pressure nut 34 are frictional disks 36 and 31 which engage into grooves 38 of the shell member 39 of the clutch. The frictional disk 36 is held in position by a spring ring 40 engaged in an inner groove of the shell 39, which is stepped at its end for formation of a shoulder 4| abutting the frictional disk 31. The rest of the frictional disks 42 are arranged in customary manner between the shell 39 and the pressure nut 34. A pressure plate 43 bearing against a stop face 45 on the hub of the pinion, through spring disks 44, serves as an abutment for the frictional disks. The shell member 39 is slidable on the fluted portion of the driving shaft, but secured against rotation, by engagement with the flutes. A pressure spring 46 in a recessed portion of the shell 39 acts upon a spring washer 41 which engages the hub of the pinion. The stroke of the spring washer 41 in the recess is defined by a spring ring 48. l The operation of said device is substantially the same as in the case of Figs. 1 and 2. In order to throw the pinion into gear the shell member 39 is advanced and through its shoulder 4| transmits its motion to the frictional disk 31, the pressure nut 34 and the pinion. In case the pinion in this operation is locked by face to face engagement with the teeth of the toothed rim 49 of the engine fly wheel, the pressure nut is turned on further advance of the shell 39. 'On withdrawal of the shell the pinion is released from its locked position and screwed into the pressure nut by the spring 46, until it meshes into a space between two teeth of the toothed rim of the fly wheel. Nowthe pinion may be engaged completely by another advance of the shell member 39. As the driving shaft is retated, the pressure nut 34 is screwed tight and compresses all of the frictional disks 42, thus transmitting the full torque to the pinion. The method and apparatus of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to specific embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited by such specific reference but is broader in scope and capable of otherembodiments than those specifically described and illustrated in the drawing.

Weclaim:

1. A starter device comprising a'driving" shaft, a pinion which is freely slidable and rotatable on the driving shaft and formed with a threaded hub portion, a friction clutchlincluding ashell portion, said shell portion being axially slidable on and rotatable with the driving shaft; a nut'member seated on said threaded hub .portion for longi tudinal movement thereof and rotary movement 7| trolled by the latter, africtiondisk for coopera- 2,356,503 tion with said shell portion and said nut, said disk and nut being arrangedto be initially pressed together separately'from said clutch and means forv axially moving said nutmember by said'shell portion, through said friction disk, said means also. serving to initially press together said disk and nut.

2. A starter device comprising a driving shaft, a pinion which is freely slidable and rotatable on the driving shaft and formed with a threaded hubv portion, a friction clutch including a shell portion, said shell portion-being axially slidable on and rotatable with the driving shaft, a nut member seated on said threaded hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, said friction clutch being operatively connected to said nut member and being controlled by the latter, a friction disk for cooperation with said shell portion and said nut,

said disk and nut being arranged to be initiallypressed together separately from said clutch and means for axially moving said nut member by said shell portion, through said friction disk, said shell portion having an abutment face for said friction disk, said means also serving to initially press together said disk and nut.

3. A starter device comprising a driving shaft, a pinion which is freely slidable and rotatable on the driving shaft andformed with .a threaded hub portion, a friction clutch including a shell portion, said shell portion being axially slidable on and rotatable with the driving shaft, a nut member seated on said threaded hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, said friction clutch being operatively connected to said nut member and being controlled by the latter, a friction disk for cooperation with said shell portion and said nut, said disk and nut being arranged to be initially pressed together separately from said clutch means for axially moving said nut member by said shell portion, through said friction disk, and a pressure spring engaged between the hub portion of said shell member and the hub portion of the pinion, saidmeans also serving to initially press together said disk and nut.

4. Anengine starter device comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a pinion carried by and driven by said driven shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, a friction clutch operatively interposed between said driving and driven shafts, said friction clutch including a pressure member carried by said driven shaft, a sleeve member carried by and rotatable with said driving shaft and a series of clutch plates, said plates being operatively connected to said pressure member and said sleeve member respectively, said pressure member being mounted on said driven shaft for longitudinal movement relative thereto and rotary movement therewith and for exerting pressure on all of said clutch plates when said pinion is in driving engagement with the engine, and manually operated means including yielding means cooperating with said sleeve member for moving said pinion into driving engagement with said engine and for exerting pressure on only a portion of said clutch plates.

5. An engine starter device comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft, a pinion carried by and driven by said driven shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, a friction clutch operatively interposed between said driving and driven shafts, said friction clutch including a pressure member carried by said said driving member and tatable with said driving shaft and a series of clutchlplates, said plates being operatively connected to said pressure member and said sleeve member respectively, said pressure member being mounted on said driven shaft and having a screwthreaded connection therewith'for exerting pressure on all of said clutch plates when said pinion is inv driving engagement with the engine, and means; including a resilient member for moving the pinion into driving engagement with the engine and for exerting pressure ononly a'portion of said clutch plates.-

6-; A starter device comprising arotatable driving shaft, awdriving member mounted on said shaft for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, a pinion mounted for a sliding and rotary movements on said shaft and provided with a threaded hub portion, a nut member mounted on said threaded hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, a main friction clutch. operatively interposed between said driving member and. said nut and controlled by the latter, a second low torque-transmitting clutch also interposedibetween said driving member and said nut and including clutch members arranged to be pressed into operative positions separately from said main clutch, and means for moving said driving member andpinion longitudinally of said driving shaft, said clutch members;

-'7; An engine starter device comprising a.ro-t.

tatable driving shaft, a driving member mounted on said shaft for longitudinal and rotary movement therewith, a pinion freely. mounted on said driven shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, said pinion being provided with a laterally extending hub portion, a control member mounted on said hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement-therewith, a main friction clutch operatively interposed between said control member and controlled by the latter, and asecond low torque-transmitting clutch also interposed between said driving member and said control member and including clutch members arranged to be pressed into operative positions separately from said main clutch, said means also operating to initially press upon said low torque-transmitting clutch members.

8. An engine starter device comprising a rotatable driving shaft, a driving member mounted on said shaft for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, a pinion freely mounted on said driving shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, said pinion being provided with a laterally extending hub portion, a control member mounted on said hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, a main friction clutch operatively interposed between said driving member and said control member and controlled by the latter, a second low torquetransmitting clutch, including clutch members, also interposed between said driving member and said control member, and manually operated means including resilient means for compressing the clutch members of said second clutch separately from said main clutch.

9. An engine starter device comprising a rotatable driving shaft, a driving member mounted on said shaft for longitudinal movement thereof driven shaft, asleeve member carried by and romeans also operating to ini-- tially press upon said low torque-transmitting movement thereof and rotary'movement therewith, a pinion freely mounted on said driving shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, said pinion being provided with a laterally extending hub portion, a control member mounted on said hub portion for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith, a main friction clutch operatively interposed between said driving member and said control member and con: trolled by the latter, a second low torque-transmitting clutch also interposed between said driving member and said control member and including clutch members arranged to be pressed into operative positions separately from said main clutch, and manually operated means for moving said driving member and pinion longitudinally of said driving shaft, said means also operating to initially. press upon said low torque-transmitting clutch members.

10. An engine starter device comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft adapted to be rotated by said driving shaft and movable longitudinally relative thereto, a pinion carried by said driven shaft and adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, a friction clutch operatively disposed between said driving and driven shafts, said friction clutch including a pressure member carried by said driven shaft, a second member carried by and rotatable with said driving shaft and a series of clutch plates, said plates being operatively connectedto said pressure member and said second member, respectively, said pinion having a threaded connection with said driven shaft whereby it is rotatable therewith and movable longitudinally thereof ,to cause longitudinal movement of said driven shaft and pressure memberand to cause said pressure memberto exert pressure on all of said clutch plates when said pinion is in driving engagement with said engine, and means including yielding means for moving said pinion into drivingengagement with said engine and for exerting pressure on only a portion of said clutch plates.

11. An engine starter as set out in claim in which the pressure member is rigidly mounted on said driven shaft.

12. An engine started as set out in claim 10 in 5 tion of the remainder of which the pressure member has a threaded connection with said driven shaft whereby it is rotatable therewith and movable longitudinally thereof to control the pressure exerted on said clutch plates.

- 13. An engine starter device for engaging and then rotating a toothed wheel of the engine, comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft member coaxial with the driving shaft and mounted for longitudinal movement relative to the driving shaft, a pinion member carried by the driven shaft member and movable into mesh with said engine wheel, a free-motion clutch intermediate the driving shaft and driven shaft member, including a plurality of clutch plates, a sleeve member'rotatable with the driving shaft and engaging some of said clutch plates and a pressure member carried by the driven shaft member and engaging others of said clutch plates, manually operated means cooperating with said sleeve member and said pressure member for longitudinally moving the driven shaft member and the members carried thereby to bring said pinion member into engagement with said engine wheel, and a coil spring arranged between two of such members in position to be compressed during such longitudinal movement in the event that the teeth of said pinion member strike the end faces of the teeth of said engine wheel, two of said members being interthreaded with each other with said coil spring, when compressed, exerting pressure upon one of the interthreaded members, whereby rotation of one of the interthreaded members is obtained through the force exerted by said compressed coil spring.

14. An engine starter device as recited in claim 13 wherein said spring is also instrumental in exerting pressure on all of said clutch plates when the teeth of said pinion member and engine wheel have properly meshed.

15. An engine starter device as recited in claim 13 wherein said clutch plates are arranged whereby the major portion of them are pressed into operative engagement subsequent to the operasuch plates.

ALBERT CALLSEN. ADOLF WEISS. 

